Research valorisation through spin-off ventures: integration of existing concepts and typologies

Abstract

The research domain of innovation and entrepreneurship is relatively young and fragmented. Therefore, no consensus exists on the definition of the main concepts. In a subdomain of entrepreneurship, this paper intends to both elucidate (the differences between) the concepts of 'spin-off' and 'spin-out' and, starting from existing literature taxonomies, to integrate several existing spin-off taxonomies, classifications and typologies in order to create a clear and complete framework for further research. This way, ten different 'ideal' spin-off and spin-out types will be defined, based on five distinguishing dimensions. These dimensions have been extracted from both theory and practice and relate strongly to the new venture's behaviour, strategy and performance. The resulting integrated typology will be illustrated in view of its practical and theoretical implications.